Big pike and muskies prefer long, thin baits. Here’s the skinny on why and how you should fish them

Northerns and walleyes are much alike in their feeding habits

PIKE PLEASERS

Given the gastronomic priority muskies place on yellow perch, it’s not surprising Glade discovered the popular panfish also ranked high on the northern pike dinner list. But instead of mimicking muskies for the balance of their dietary delights—as one might logically assume—pike much more closely resembled walleye in their eating habits.

“Pike and walleye had the most similar diets of any two species pairs that we looked at,” says Glade. “And they ate primarily perch, sunfish and crappies. The exact proportions were different depending on the lake. There was a bit of a trade-off between eating more perch in one system and more panfish in another system. But across the board, perch, sunfish and crappies made up over 80 per cent of both walleye and pike diets. They were really keyed in on those prey items.”

Listening to Glade detail the close association between northern pike and walleye was a eureka moment for me. As I have written about often, when I first started casting five- and six-inch swimbaits for trophy-sized walleye, I was often bitten off by ghostly predators while fishing deeper main-lake structures. As much to enjoy catching those bonus giant pike as saving my baits, I started using ultra-thin, foot-long, tieable stainless steel wire leaders. After landing scores of giant pike weighing up to 30 pounds doing this, I found Glade’s findings made all the more sense.

And again, it showed that slender trumped chubby when it came to bait choices.

BONUS TIP: PERCH PATTERN

A fascinating takeaway from fisheries scientist Kamden Glade’s diet research is that yellow perch are the most important source of food for muskies, northern pike and walleye. And that helps explain why green, yellow, black and chartreuse—especially in combination—are the lure colours of choice for so many anglers. It also sheds light on the fact that perch are modest in stature, typically stretching eight to 12 inches in length, supporting what I’ve opined for years. Namely, a modest-sized, firetiger-coloured Super Shad Rap-style lure (above) is the ultimate “small” bait for attracting and triggering husky muskies and giant northern pike to strike.